this week at the FPL

It was seed day at the Front Porch Library–a quick walk around the neighborhood this morning showed me there were seeds everywhere (’tis the season).

The read aloud was about seeds (not as funny as our usual fare). Then we talked about foods we ate that contain seeds, then foods that are seeds. We tried various seeds we use to flavor things: caraway, poppy, celery seed. They all evoked an active spit response.

We looked at seeds I’d collected and considered the various strategies seeds use to get themselves distributed. My favorites were the ones I got to stick to shirts with a light tap–good old Spanish Needle. And then there was the Hearts-A-Bustin’–a small tree with bright red seed pods that burst and scatter their bright red seeds. After looking at examples we broke up into foraging groups, each team equipped with a collecting tray and a pair of scissors. Our goal? To collect seeds from as many different species as we could.

My group was Danny, Vivienne and our new volunteer, Razah. We found everything from palm seeds, to dogwood, to milkweed. On our walk back Vivienne circled us and announced, “I am orbiting you!”

Collectively we gathered seeds from 48 species of plants. We did ourselves proud! We’ll plant a few and see what happens–just not the ones that stick to your shirt.

Then we carved pumpkins, unleashing the mother load of seeds.
They’ll be baked and ready for snack next Sunday.As opposed to growing them, it saves time.

Another fine day of wandering in the weeds at the Front Porch Library.